For many families, helping children achieve homeownership is becoming just as important as helping them pay for college.
Nearly three-quarters of parents with children at home—74%—say they would consider or have already started financially planning to help their kids buy a home one day. Among those parents, 29% say helping their children purchase a home is more important than helping pay for college, while 55% say it’s equally important.
The findings come from Northwestern Mutual’s newly released “2026 Planning & Progress Study,” reflecting survey responses of more than 4,000 adults at the start of this year.
“In today’s housing market, homeownership has become a team sport, and parents are increasingly the MVPs,” says John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual. “Starter capital from moms and dads is helping young people get a starter home, building a bridge to the American dream and generational wealth. Parents with access to liquidity are in a unique position to help their kids with a down payment and more.”
Financial support from family members can play a critical role in helping first-time buyers break into the market. According to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 22% of first-time buyers said they used a gift or loan from a friend or relative for their down payment to buy a home.
Prioritizing Homeownership
While affordability challenges remain, younger generations are showing growing optimism about their chances of owning a home—realizing a delay can be costly.
First-time buyers’ average age climbed to a record high of 40 last year, according to NAR. But waiting to buy could have long-term, financial consequences: Households who purchase their first home by age 30 see a 22.5% higher net worth—an average of $119,000 more—by age 50 compared to those who wait until their 40s to buy their first home, according to realtor.com®’s newly released Generational Wealth Report.
“Homeownership has long been a cornerstone of financial security in the U.S., and our analysis shows that laying that foundation sooner can have big impacts,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com®.
“Earlier entry into the market doesn’t just provide a place to live; it catalyzes broader balance-sheet growth. By gaining more years for appreciation and mortgage paydown, early home buyers build a foundation of wealth that supports opportunities that cascade into the next generation,” Hale says.
| Purchase Age | Additional Net Worth at Age 50 Associated With Earlier Home Purchase | Illustrative Wealth Benefit (based on $530k sample with mean age 50 net worth) |
| Buy at age 28-32 | +22.5% | +$119,000 |
| Buy at age 33-37 | +11.2% | +$59,000 |
| Buy at age 38-42 | +1.5% | +$8,000 |
Source: Generational Wealth Report, realtor.com®
Regardless of mom and dad’s help, more younger adults may be viewing homeownership within reach. Among non-homeowners, the share who believe homeownership is financially affordable now or will be in the future rose from 33% in 2025 to 42% in 2026. Confidence jumped most among younger generations: From 42% to 54% among Gen Z, those under the age of 29, and from 34% to 47% among Millennials, aged 30 to 45. By comparison, optimism has remained relatively flat among older generations, according to Northwestern Mutual’s report.
Some of the perceived barriers that have long sidelined buyers may be easing slightly. Fewer Gen Z and millennial non-homeowners cite saving for a down payment, high mortgage rates or being priced out from intense market competition as the biggest obstacles compared to a year ago, the Northwestern Mutual report states. For example, the share of Americans who say they don’t have enough saved for a down payment fell from 64% in 2025 to 53% in 2026, and the most pronounced drop was among Gen Z—70% in 2025 to 52% in 2026.
“Homeownership is the traditional path to living the American dream, so it’s exciting to see younger people feeling more confident that their dream will come true,” Roberts says.
Related: Could More First-time Buyers Make the Math Work in 2026?
